Action in Syria is a lose-lose proposition

Wednesday

Sep 11, 2013 at 12:01 AMSep 11, 2013 at 3:40 PM

Soon our government will make a huge decision on whether to take military action in Syria. I have personally written each of my representatives to voice my opposition to this, and I encourage everyone to do the same. Somehow I feel if this were a real threat President Obama would have already sent in missiles, as President Clinton and others before him did, but it is painfully obvious we have no real leadership in foreign affairs and this has since been turned into a disgusting political football.

The damage is now done as far as our perceived weakness. In one aspect to act now, or next week, is equivalent to beating a dog a month after it urinates on the carpet. I also find it odd that we have not heard of so much as a stray bullet doing even any superficial damage from the militants side. It is a lose- lose situation.

With the barrage of recent propaganda from the supporters of missile strikes, it reminds me of George Orwell’s “1984,” not to mention the movie “Wag the Dog.” It does make one wonder has our government gone Hollywood.

The people of Syria have a choice between an existing tyrant, or a group of terrorist militant future tyrants, but no positive alternative. We need to learn from our past experiences and results of our actions in the Middle East. We need to let the U.N. prove its worth and take a lead. To act alone once again in a part of the world that is sick of our involvement is repeating history in a bad way.

My heart goes out to the innocent people caught in the middle of this senseless killing, but I do not see us making any difference there other than taking power from one thug and giving it to another. There is no easy answer, but it is time for action to come from the rest of the world, and we should let the world settle things without us for a while. We should always offer food, medicine, and humanitarian aid, but refrain from offering bombs, arms, and above all the lives of our soldiers. We need to concentrate on cleaning up our own house.